Beloved actress returns to soap

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — A fan favorite returns after an absence of nearly two decades.

Following years of speculation, and an eighteen-year absence from Llanview, Soap Opera Digest is confirming that Andrea Evans is returning to “One Life to Live” as Tina Lord Roberts. Evans orginated the role in 1978. After leaving in 1981, she would return again in 1985. In 1990, Evans left “OLTL” once more, this time removing herself from public life for nearly a decade after revealing that a crazed fan had been stalking her.

During the 1990s, Evans appeared in the films “A Low Down Dirty Shame” and “Ice Cream Man.” In 1999, she returned to daytime as Tawny Moore on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” where she remained until 2000. Later that same year she replaced former “Brady Bunch” star Maureen McCormick in the recurring role of Rebecca Hotchkiss on “Passions.” Following that soap’s cancellation by DirecTV, fans have been flooding online message boards with speculation that Evans might return to her Llanview roots. The character of Tina has been absent from Llanview for than a decade, having last been seen in early 1997, despite the fact that much of her family (including siblings Todd and Viki, and daughter Sarah) remains in town.

In June of 2007, Evans told Soap Opera Digest when asked what her favorite role was, said “That’s an easy one … Tina Lord Roberts on “One Life to Live” because in every actor’s life, you hope for a role that becomes bigger than yourself and for me, Tina was that role.”

Details on Evans return to Llanview are sketchy, but sources are indicating that she will share a connection to a character that viewers love to hate. No first airdate has been announced.